84 
EDITORIAL. 
after  much  discussion,  it  was  finally  agreed  by  the  joint  committee  to  re- 
commend so  much  of  the  draft  of  a  law  snggested  by  the  American  Phar- 
maceutical Associatiou  in  September  last,  at  Chicago,  as  pertained  to  the 
adulteration  of  drugs.  This  came  up  for  consideration  at  the  meeting  of 
Dec.  18th,  at  which  too  few  were  present  to  give  force  to  the  expression, 
and  its  consideration  was  postponed  till  Dec.  29th,  when  the  following  re- 
solutions were  passed,  with  a  majority  present,  the  first  with  one  nega- 
tive vote,  the  second  unanimously: 
''Resolved,  That  the  Joint  Committee  appointed  by  the  College  of 
Physicians,  the  State  Medical  Society,  the  County  Medical  Society,  and 
the  College  of  Pharmacy,  respectfully  advise  the  several  bodies  which 
they  represent  that,  in  iheir  opinion,  the  draft  of  a  law  proposed  and 
considered  by  the  American  Pharmaceutical  Association  embodies  a 
better  plan  than  any  other  which  has  been  brought  to  their  notice,  for  the 
suppression  of  adulteration  and  sophistication  of  drugs  and  medicines." 
''Resolved,  That  the  expression  of  opinion  of  the  Joint  Committee,  in 
the  resolution  just  adopted,  refers  exclusively  to  those  sections  of  the 
'  Draft  of  a  proposed  Law'  which  relate  to  the  adulteration  and  sophisti- 
cation of  drugs  and  medicines." 
Correction. — New  York  College  of  Pharmacy. — In  a  paper  on 
"  Pharmacy  in  the  United  States,"  by  Mr.  John  Faber,  published  in  the 
September  number  of  the  American  Journal  of  Pharmacy,  page  399,  the 
following  paragraphs  occur,  relating  to  a  law  previously  stated  to  exist 
in  the  State  of  New  York  : 
By  force  of  that  law,  the  College  of  Pharmacy  in  New  York,  in  the 
year  of  1830,  after  having  repeatedly  fined,  caused  a  number  of  establish- 
ments (the  owners  of  which  could  not  prove  their  legal  qualification)  to 
be  closed.  But  they  appealed  to  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States, 
which  declared  this  law  unconstitutional,  it  being  not  in  accordance  with 
the  general  freedom  of  trade,  as  sanctioned  by  the  Constitution  of  the 
United  States. 
On  the  strength  of  that  decision,  those  that  were  thus  interrupted  in 
their  business  commenced  an  action  against  the  College  of  Pharmacy  of 
New  York,  which  had  to  pay  such  heavy  damages,  that  it  took  that  in- 
stitution over  fifteen  years  to  recover  from  it. 
A  letter  received  from  Mr.  George  C.  Close,  President  of  the  New  York 
College  of  Pharmacy  (and  which  should  have  been  noticed  in  our  last 
number),  after  saying  that  this  whole  statement  is  untrue,  and  that  Mr. 
Faber  has  been  misinformed,  says  : 
"The  first  charter  for  the  College  was  [granted]  in  1831,  and  the  act 
to  regulate  the  preparation  and  dispensing  of  medicines  in  the  city  of 
New  York  was  passed  March  llth,  1839. 
*'  The  College  of  Pharmacy  of  New  York  never  has  taken  any  action 
towards  enforcing  this  law,  neither  has  any  individual  done  so  ;  and  of 
course  the  appeal  to  the  Supreme  Court,  and  the  subsequent  action 
against  the  College,  the  fines,  &c.,  had  no  existence  except  in  the  fertile 
brain  of  Mr.  Faber's  informant.  The  law  of  the  State  of  New  York  re- 
ferred to  is  defective,  in  directing  the  fines  collected  to  be  paid  to  an  in- 
